In the article, “Russia invades Ukraine” I learned that on February 24, 2022, President Putin announced that Russia was no longer safe from what he claimed was an ever-present threat from Ukraine. Putin claims that a military invasion is necessary to protect the Russian people, who Putin says have been subjected to genocide and bullying from Ukraine. The Russian people living in Ukraine are the largest ethnic minority in the nation. Ukraine responds by saying the Ukrainian military has called up all reservists aged eighteen to sixty years old and that President Volodymyr Zelensky has joined his troops on the front lines.
These events mark the first time that major power has invaded a neighboring European country since World War II. A huge number of refugees are crossing the borders into Poland, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and Slovakia. More are likely to come. The U.S. announced that they will not be sending combat troops to Ukraine.